Thank you for visiting us at Wallace Station!

Corey Baker, managerEthan Bowling, chef

Photo ca. 1992-National Register of Historic Places

Wallace Station, along Old Frankfort Pike in Woodford County in the heart of Kentucky’s Bluegrass horse country, is on the National Register of Historic Places as a surviving example of a small railroad community.

Nearby Midway, the first town in Kentucky established by a railroad, was founded along an east-west railroad line in the 1830s, which continues to exist as a CSX railroad track that still passes through downtown. Another railroad track, now abandoned, passed through Midway in a roughly north-south orientation. Chartered in 1884 and opened in 1885, this railroad connected Georgetown, Midway and Versailles by 1889, and until 1940 ferried passengers and freight, including supplies for Midway distilleries and phosphate from the mine directly behind Wallace Station.

The tree line to the east of the Wallace Station parking lot marks the old railroad bed.

The current building was built at the turn of the 20th century by the McKinivan family. The McKinivans lived upstairs — now office space — and operated a store downstairs. The store and gas station sold feed, machinery, fencing and other farming necessities, as well as consumer goods such as fabric and groceries. At one time, the building also served as a post office.

Dr. Thomas D. Clark, the late Kentucky historian, said that the former child bride of emancipationist and politician Cassius Clay, Dora Brock, who lived on the adjacent farm, was laid out in the store when she died in 1914. Clay, whom she had divorced a few years after their marriage in the 1890s, had bought her a little house on the farm, where she died in poverty.

After the last distillery in Midway closed in 1939, the railroad ceased operation in 1940 and was dismantled in 1941. Wallace Station continued to operate under various owners as a grocery. A one-story addition was built circa 1970.

The country store operated until it was purchased by Larry Taylor around 2001. Chris and Ouita Michel opened Wallace Station Deli and Bakery there in 2003, where it continues to serve delicious food with great service and hospitality.

Wallace Station was named after Caleb Wallace, an appellate court judge who settled in Woodford County on the banks of South Elkhorn Creek around 1785 and owned a large estate on Old Frankfort Pike, near the Wallace area. Judge Wallace was known as a fierce advocate for religious freedom and public education. His writings likely influenced fellow Virginia colony resident Thomas Jefferson via Wallace’s lifelong friend James Madison. Wallace helped found several colleges and universities, including Transylvania University in Lexington, and helped establish the public education system in Kentucky.

Sources: National Register of Historic Places, Ghost Railroads of Kentucky, Kentucky’s Bluegrass: A Survey of the Post Offices,archive.org, local historian Bill Penn

Wallace Station as it appears today. There is indoor seating year round, and outdoor seating options in the beautiful Bluegrass countryside on warm days.

Visiting Bluegrass Horse Farms

We live and work amid the world's most beautiful horse farms, and often field questions from guests about touring these farms. Good information about visiting horse farms is found here on the visitlex.com Web site or visithorsecountry.com. Be sure to share your tour experience with us during lunch, brunch or dinner at Wallace Station!

Visitors will find Chef Ouita's restaurants along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in the Bluegrass, including her Glenn's Creek Café lunch service at Woodford Reserve Distillery. Find seven distilleries within 35 miles of Lexington, with plans for more to come! For details on visiting these historic and beautiful distilleries, please visit kybourbontrail.com.

Wallace Station Deli, Versailles, KentuckyWallace Station, just outside Midway in the heart of Bluegrass horse country and near the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, is a scenic stop for homemade sandwiches, soups, salads, an irresistible bakery case and breakfast.

The Midway Bakery, Midway, KentuckyThe Midway Bakery creates cookies, scones, cakes, pies and more from scratch with real butter and natural ingredients using traditional recipes. Our flours come from Weisenberger Mill down the road; most of the corn and wheat is raised right here in Kentucky. Our chocolate and cocoa powder comes from Ruth Hunt Candies in Mount Sterling. Our pecans are from the Kentucky Nut Corp. in Hickman, Ky. We always give a baker's dozen!

Our menu is both familiar and creative, emphasizing local foods and old-fashioned Kentucky recipes in dishes such as Beer Cheese with West Sixth Smithtown Porter, wild-caught fried catfish, flavor-packed burgers, salads and ethnic seafood dishes such as fish tacos and Tilapia Singapore, vegetarian specialties and much more. Our tilapia is grown at FoodChain, our back-door neighbor!

Glenn’s Creek Café, Woodford Reserve Distillery, Versailles, KentuckyGlenn’s Creek Café's mission is to prepare tasty food that reflects all the distinctive flavors found in the Woodford Reserve flavor wheel. Chef Paul Hieb and his team take a creative approach to Kentucky cooking by combining international flavors with some of our local recipes. The staff uses as many local ingredients as possible in its scratch-made menu, including Stone Cross Farm pork, beef and chicken. “Glenn’s Creek is one of the most beautiful spots for lunch in Kentucky, and maybe the entire United States,” owner/executive chef Ouita Michel said. “The visitor center dining area is sophisticated and warm, and in summery weather, guests can dine on the porch amid the storied magnificence of the Bluegrass.”

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